Former Inter goalkeeper Walter Zenga says it is time for the Nerazzurri to put their faith in youth.

The 54-year-old played for the San Siro giants for a period of 12 years and believes Serie A’s current inability to compete financially with other European Leagues means clubs must start developing more of their own talent.

“If we look at the recent signings that have been made in the world of Italian football,” began Zenga to Tuttomercatoweb.com. “I’m talking about Alex, Vidic, Menez and Keita for Roma.

“These are all players whose contracts had expired and who are of a certain age. If we look at who Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid are buying, we see the difference that exists at this moment between Italian football and European football.

“At this moment Inter can’t spend, it’s a club that needs to treasure its youngsters. They should go forward with the ones they’ve got and they need to play them.

“We are in the 2014/15 season, not the one four years ago. Inter were on top of the world four years ago.

“In that team there were people at the top of the top. Now we need to have patience and using youngsters is absolutely the best solution.”